severable

Second, the plaintiffs argued that the mandate isn’t severable from the rest of the ACA, meaning that if it falls, the whole ACA falls.

If the court were to find the ACA severable, then even a holding that the individual mandate was unconstitutional would not invalidate the entire law.

The House of Representatives and multiple Democratic attorneys general intervened in the case, asking the Supreme Court to consider whether the mandate was constitutional and whether it was severable from the rest of the law.

The court is considering whether the law’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty is severable from the broader law, or whether it makes all of Obamacare unconstitutional.

Assuming the court determines the mandate is unconstitutional and severable from some or most of the rest of the law, it would also have to decide which parts to keep.